Saturday 21 November 2009
Coca-Cola League 2
Bradford City vs Accrington Stanley

Welcome to the Coral Windows Stadium for this afternoon's match against Accrington Stanley. We extend a warm welcome to the players, supporters and officials who have made the short trip over the border from Lancashire for today's match.

It is great that Accrington, who have such a proud history as a football club, appear to have got themselves out of their recent financial difficulties. As every Bradford City fan knows, it is a difficult time when your club's future is under threat and it is testament to the hard work of everyone at Accrington that they seem to have pulled through. We wish them all the best for the future and hope that they are playing in the Football League for many years to come.

On to our own situation and, as you will no doubt have noticed, we seem to be suffering our fair share of injuries at the moment. Stuart has been working hard to bolster the squad in time for today's match and, all being well, there could well be a new face on board in time for the kick-off this afternoon. I have spoken to the physio this week and he is feeling more optimistic about the situation and it may well be that we have a couple of players fit today - if only for the substitutes' bench - who were unavailable last weekend.

Looking back to the Bournemouth match and I am sure that all supporters who were at the game would agree that we deserved at least a point from the game and, in my opinion, we probably did enough to earn all three. I certainly felt at the end of the match that it was a case of two points lost rather than one gained, albeit it was an encouraging display against the league leaders.

I like to use this column to keep you up to date with matters off the field, so I am pleased to be able to report today that the appeal for the Burns Unit continues to progress well. We have so far raised more than £20,000 for the appeal, which is a terrific achievement and I would like to thank everyone who has helped towards that. If you have not yet picked up one of our collection boxes, which you can use to collect any loose change you have around the house for the appeal, then please do contact David Baldwin at the club. We have already had many generous fans bringing in boxes with terrific amounts that have been collected just from spare change.

Finally, a plug for the 1911 Club, which will be opening throughout December for Christmas lunches. The club will be open Monday to Friday from noon until 3.00pm offering a six-course lunch menu, which represents fantastic value. You can choose two courses for £9.95, three courses for £14.95, or all six courses for only £19.95. As you can see, it's a bargain and there is also a chance you will bump into the players as they eat in the boxes next to the club every lunchtime. We are anticipating this offer to prove extremely popular, so do book early. If it is successful, we may look to open the 1911 Club for lunches throughout the year. You can get a taste of what's on offer in the club by dropping in for a drink after every home game when it is open to all supporters.

Here's hoping that we all have a victory to toast come five o'clock tonight.

Enjoy the game,

Mark Lawn
Joint Chairman